Examination underachievement: is there a language factor?

1. Pauline Rea-Dickins, Guoxing Yu, Oksana Afitska (Bristol)Zuleikha Khamis (State University of Zanzibar) Examination underachievement: is there a language factor?

2. Outline of this presentation • Overview of research context and issues • Overview of study and research aims • Some data • Discussion & some conclusions

3. Context of Learning Khadija is 15 years old and in Form 2 of secondary school. Her learning in primary school was entirely through the medium of Kiswahili, with English taught as a subject. She experienced an abrupt shift from Kiswahili as medium of instruction on transition to secondary school as in Form 1 she was expected to learn all her subjects through English. However, in reality both her L1 (Kiswhahili) and L2 (English) were used when she was being taught Maths, Science, Geography and her other subjects. But, at the end of Form 2 she is required to demonstrate her subject learning in formal school examinations through the medium of English.

4. The Research • Rationale: • Significant numbers of learners in SSA have to demonstrate their learning through an L2/L3 • BUT: little is known about how learners might be disadvantaged in demonstrating subject learning through an L2/L3 • Located in Zanzibar: islands of Unguja, Pemba, Tumbatu

5. Research Aims • What evidence is there that language constitutes a determining factor in the demonstration of achievement in formal examination of school subject knowledge? • What is the impact of different examination formats and accommodations to extend the ways in which children’s understanding may be examined in the 3 core areas: English, Maths, Science: Biology & Chemistry

6. What are the stakes? • 55% leave primary education as unsuccessful learners; Alidou et al. 2006) • Participation rates are very low in Basic Education: 38% (UNESCO, 2007:58) • Exams are high stakes: e.g. only 27% of pupils who begin school in SA exist with a school leaving certificate after the twelfth grade (Heugh 2000:30)

8. Linguistic problems • Vocabulary: not understanding specific words (from English test paper) WHALES, BREATHING, MAMMALS, SURFACE, BALEEN, TOOTHED, SPECIES, FEEDING, PLANKTON, VAST SHOALS, SQUID, CHASE, DEEPER, DEPTHS, TONS ➲; ARRANGEMENT, JOURNEY, MEANS OF GETTING, ARRIVAL, COULD COLLECT YOU ➲. (from Chemistry test paper) SOLUTION, DILUTE, CONCENTRATED. (from Biology test paper) SIMILARITIES, MAMMALS, BIRDS (some learners) ➲. (from Maths test paper) EVALUATE, FRACTIONS.

9. When learners do not know the meaning of the words in the task or question they may either: • (1) guess the meaning of the word and carry on with the task, or • (2) not attempt at the task at all as the meaning of the word is not clear.

10. Guessing the meaning

11. Not attempting at the task

12. Linguistic problems • Pronunciation: Learners may have inaccurate pronunciation of some English words. This potentially may stop them from recognising such words as known or familiar when reading them. (Discussion of biology test paper) SKELETON = SEKELTON (Discussion of English test paper) WHALES = WALS

13. Linguistic problems • Reading accuracy: Learners may misread the words and therefore interpret their meaning based on what they read. (Discussion of maths test paper) QUOTIENTS ➪ QUANTITIES (Discussion of English test paper) COLLAR ➪ COLOUR

14. Linguistic problems • Misinterpretation of words: This happens when learner reads a word properly but his/her knowledge on meaning of the word is inaccurate. (Discussion of maths test paper) EITHER ➛ INTERSECTION Discussion of maths test paper) TWICE ➛TWINS

15. Non-linguistic problems • Topics not covered in class

16. Non-linguistic problems • No/not enough practice on tasks: More practice ➪ easy task ; less/no practice ➪ difficult task (Discussion of easiness / difficultness of tasks) The DIFFICULT tasks were mostly those that were NOT COVERED in the class (lines 494-495) whereas the EASY ones were those that were PRACTICED in class (lines 126-152, 421, 424-426) (lines 182-185, A5). Question 6 in maths paper: The combined ages of Juma and Asha are 10 years. The difference of Asha’s age from twice Juma’s age is 8 years. Find the ages of each one. Learner E4 identified this task as easy as it was one of the tasks that he had to do in his trial exam.

17. Non-linguistic problems • Lack of or no laboratories and equipment for science lessons

18. Non-linguistic problems • Not enough or no visual presentations (e.g. experiments)

19. Non-linguistic problems • Pressure from adults to help with work in expense of learning

20. Non-linguistic problems • Exam/time pressure = attentiveness: There seems to be a pressure on learners by the fact that they are taking exams. Asking the learners to do the same tasks without the time/exam pressure seems to be making them perform better. They can complete tasks correctly, can notice the mistakes that they made in test. (Noticing mistakes)PHYLORIC ➪ PYLORIC

21. Non-linguistic problems (cont.) (Time pressure)PUNCTUATE

22. Non-linguistic problems (cont.)

23. Discussion: Class Participation & Marginalised Groups(Data from Study 4) • Restricted opportunities for reading & writing • Lack of follow up tasks that might develop explanatory skills, use language spontaneously, develop a sense of genre specific writing • Teachers tend to focus on same, few learners in class & these tend to be the better students: the weaker learners are a seriously marginalised group • Severely limited resources: focus on BB work • Switch to L1 for discussion: pair or group work

24. Discussion: Classroom Discourse(Data from Study 4) • Much teacher L2 talk is very restricted (see also Probyn, 2005; Hornberger & Chick, 2001): • limited L2 proficiency: TT are L2 speakers & their linguistic repertoires is shallow (Prophet & Badede, 2007); leads to ‘watering down of content’, simplification of ideas; dominant Qn types encourage recall/review of prior knowledge • repetition of words & phrases; sentence completion & rote learning: factual recall; reading aloud or from BB; Q&A routines with single word/short answers • almost no evidence of a strong scaffold in L2 for either content or language learning; little or no exploratory talk as basis for discourse-specific writing in L2; some evidence in L1.

25. Some Conclusions YES there IS a language factor: (i) SS inadequately prepared for examinations • Lack of exposure to rich language models • Little opportunity to: exchange meanings, to develop skills of reasoning, explanation, justification = lack of practice in ‘learning talk’ and exposure to genre for learning • Yet: exams require learners to explain (sequential or causal explanations), argue, organise information through describing, discussing, evaluation … • Some (but little overall) evidence of a language focus in the subject classes & of a cross-curricula focus in the English classes: lack of opportunities for language development

26. Some Conclusions (ii) The examinations themselves in English pose difficulties to the learners (iii) There are other crucial mediating factors, e.g.: • Teachers struggle in their use of the L2 and cannot provide the rich and varied linguistic environments for the development of subject learning and L2 abilities as preparation for the formal high stakes examinations at end of Form 2

27. Some Conclusions • Lack of resources (e.g. graph paper is drawn on the BB; no periodic tables for Chemistry, no textbooks for learners) • Teacher Certification: many Form 2 teachers are Form 4 school leavers • …..

28. Some Conclusions Is language THE factor in examination underachievement??

29. Pauline Rea-Dickins, Guoxing Yu, Oksana Afitska, BristolZuleikha Khamis, State University of Zanzibar Examination underachievement: is there a language factor?

30. English test paper (1) Read the following passage very carefully then answer the questions that follow it: Whales and man are warm-blooded, air breathing mammals. Whales have lungs and need to come to the surface of the sea to breathe air. They can be separated into two groups, the baleen whales and the toothed whales. There are about twelve species of baleen whales, all feeding on small plankton organisms. The baleen whales feed by swimming through vast shoals of plankton with mouths open. The toothed whales feed on fish and squid which they have to chase in deeper water. Some of these whales can dive to great depths. The largest animal that has ever lived on this planet is the blue whale, which can grow to 100 feet (30 metres) and about 100 tons in weight. ➲

31. English test paper (2) Write a letter to your friend KAWAONE, whom you will visit during your holidays. The letter should contain the following details. • Reason(s) for visiting him/her. • Your arrangement for the journey • Means of getting to the station. • Day, date and time of your arrival • The place where he/she could collect you. • Your name is TUWENAO. ➲

32. Biology test paper Question 2: List down characteristic similarities and differences between birds and mammals ➲